Centering device for corkscrew

ABSTRACT

A device to center and align to the wormscrew of a corkscrew the neck of a bottle of any diameter whatsoever from which the cork is to be extracted, wherein a receptacle cone is located at the base of a collection tube and is retractable with respect to the latter in order to allow the neck of a bottle to abut always centered against the base of the tube in order to have a constant and determinate abutment position to correctly remove the cork and to be able to determine precisely and in advance how much the wormscrew has to penetrate into the cork itself.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention concerns a device to center, at the base of a corkscrew,the upper part of the neck of a bottle from which it is intended toremove the cork.

This device is particularly indicated when it is intended to uncorkbottles which have very different diameters at the upper end of the neckand particularly when it is desired to perform a controlled uncorkingand hence to establish how much the wormscrew has to penetrate into thecork.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Normally double-lever corkscrews or similar which are used to removereal or synthetic corks from a bottle have at the base, incorrespondence and below the abutment point, a sort of conical cavitywhich serves as a receptacle for the upper part of the neck in order, inone way or another, to center the cork in correspondence with the tip ofthe wormscrew which must penetrate therein in order to subsequentlyremove it.

It is important that the wormscrew penetrates the center of the cork andperpendicularly; it is also important that the cork is removed in thisdirection, because screwing in the wormscrew laterally and obliquely isthe main reason for breakages, both of the wormscrew and of the necks ofthe bottles.

From WO-A-99-52809 of the same Applicant, it is known a device toautomatically uncork a bottle wherein it is possible to regulate howmuch the wormscrew has to penetrate into the cork in order to be able toremove it without making a hole in the base thereof, so as not to makebits of cork fall onto the liquid; moreover, with this system, whennecessary, it is also possible to remove the cork only partly (partialuncorking), and the uncorking can be completed later manually when thebottle is to be used.

In order to obtain this result with the known method, it isindispensable that the upper part of the neck of the bottle always abutsat a fixed point, which will normally be the point, more or less, wherethe tip of the wormscrew reaches.

As long as traditional bottles with bulges (a thickening of the upperpart of the neck) are used, which are normally between 33 and 27 mm indiameter, everything proceeds normally.

However, in recent years bottles of very different shapes have appearedon the market and, especially from the USA bottles have arrived whichhave necks widened at the top and which even reach 40 mm in diameter.

These bottles, with such abnormal thickenings, sometimes cannot even beincluded in the receptacle cone of a normal corkscrew.

To remove the cork of such bottles it is possible to widen the base ofthe cone and construct the receptacle almost plane in the abutment part.

But by doing this we shall never have a good centering, considering thedifferences in diameter with which we have to work.

On the contrary, if we widen only the base of the cone and extend it toreceive any diameter, we shall certainly obtain a good centering, butwhile the bottles with a smaller diameter will abut at the right pointwhere the tip of the wormscrew arrives, other bottles, with greaterdiameters, will go onto the wall of the cone and, according to the anglethereof, will abut and be located at different distances from the tip ofthe wormscrew according to the diameters of the various necks of thebottles.

These distances can also be several millimeters and this will no longerpermit a controlled and regulated penetration of the wormscrew into thecork.

Bottles which are not well centered, are held oblique with respect tothe wormscrew, are located at different distances from the correctabutment point, lead to extractions which cannot be regulated, areimproperly carried out, and can even lead to the breakage of thewormscrew, or the cork or even the glass.

The present Applicant has found the method which we shall now describe,in order to overcome these shortcomings, to perform a correct andcontrolled uncorking and, as much as possible, to prevent breakages.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Normally a double-lever corkscrew comprises two vertical rods or a tubeinside which the wormscrew turns parallel; the tube will serve tocollect the cork once it has been removed from the bottle. It widens atthe base under the tip of the wormscrew so as to form a cone whichserves as a centering receptacle and its highest part acts as anabutment element for the neck of the bottle.

The tube and the conical receptacle are made in a single piece.

In this way every different diameter of the upper part of the neck of abottle will abut on the walls of the cone at different distances fromthe tip of the wormscrew.

The present invention consists in having made of the tube and theconical receptacle two independent bodies in such a manner that thecentering cone can slide upwards, outside the collection tube, once abottle neck which is wider than normal is introduced therein and thrustin abutment.

With this device, the upper part of the neck will always abut centeredon a well established point and that is on the lower part of thecollection tube where, always in that position, there is the tip of thewormscrew which will have to penetrate into the cork.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The functioning will be understood better with the description -and theattached drawings, which show preferential forms of embodiment, given asa non-restrictive example, which we shall complete by describing othercharacteristics of the invention for a better and more perfectfunctioning. In particular:

FIG. 1 shows a double-lever corkscrew or similar, inside which the neckof the bottle is introduced which is centered on the cone but whichstill has to be made to abut;

FIG. 2 shows a corkscrew similar to that in FIG. 1 where the neck of thebottle is in abutment on the base of the collection tube and the body ofthe bottle is guided by a V-shaped element. The corkscrew is also ableto be driven by motors and provides that these are startedautomatically.

FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view taken along line III—III ofFIG. 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

A preferential embodiment is shown in FIG. 1 where:

n. 1 represents the wormscrew

n. 2 the tube which collects the cork

n. 3 the base of the collection tube

n. 4 the movable centering cone

n. 5 a spring

n. 6 two inner ribs inside the collection tube which serve to expel thecork

n. 7 outer shell

n. 8 stopper ring for the centering cone

n. 9 neck of the bottle

n. 10 cork

It is easy to understand how the device according to the presentinvention, once the neck of the bottle 9 has been introduced at the baseof the cone 4, whether the bottle itself is thrust upwards or whetherthe corkscrew is thrust towards the bottle, the upper part of the neck 9goes first to abut on a part of the wall of the cone 4 to then centerand subsequently, continuing to thrust the neck of the bottle 9 towardsthe corkscrew, or vice versa, will make the cone 4 axially retract withrespect to the collection tube 2, until the upper part of the neck abutson the base 3 of the collection tube 2.

All bottles of any diameter whatsoever will always abut, alreadycentered, at that point (i.e. the base 3 of the collection tube 2) andtherefore we shall have a certain base to decide how much to make thewormscrew 1 penetrate into the cork 10, according to the length of thelatter and according to whether the bottle is to be totally or partiallyuncorked.

The spring 5 will serve to contrast the sliding of the cone 4 so thatthe latter will move only when the neck of the bottle 9 is wellcentered.

So far we have seen how to solve the problem of centering the bottlesfor different diameters of different necks, so as to have a well-definedcentered abutment point.

As we have said, however, it is not enough to have a good abutment, itis also necessary to have the bottle aligned with the turn of thewormscrew 1 in the cork.

If it is a manual corkscrew, not fixed, it will be necessary to providemanually that the wormscrew 1 is aligned with the neck of the bottle 9and, also manually, we shall have to evaluate how much to make thewormscrew 1 penetrate into the cork.

If, on the contrary, it is a corkscrew which is fixed to the wall orsimilar it is possible to arrange a V-shaped support, a few centimeters,e.g. about 13-14, below the mouth of the corkscrew, for the body of thebottle.

This support will serve to guide the bottle so that the neck 9 iscentered and aligned with the wormscrew 1 which has to penetrate thecork 10.

Only in this way, from the cooperation of these two elements, theretractable cone 4 and the guide for the body of the bottle, shall weobtain a perfect centering for any diameter whatsoever of the neck 9 inalignment with the vertical sliding of the wormscrew 1; only in this wayshall we have a certain and constant abutment point and be able todetermine precisely and in advance how much we want to make thewormscrew penetrate into the cork 10, without pieces of cork fallinginto the liquid and without breakages.

FIG. 2 shows the mechanical part of a wall-mounted motorized corkscrewor similar, where a guide 11 is provided for the body of the bottlelocated on the wall 18.

With this device it is possible to pre-arrange perfectly the centeringof one type of bottle. For example for 0.75 liter bottles it is possibleto fix a point where the guide satisfies the requirement of centering aRhine-type wine-bottle and also a Burgundy-type wine-bottle.

These bottles have different body diameters but only a little, which istolerated and hence influences the centering little or not at all.

However, since we have done so as to include, in the mouth of thecorkscrew, bottle necks which go from 27 to 41 millimeters in diameter,we may find ourselves having to uncork bottles which very differentcapacities, and which may reach 1.5 or 2 liters or even more.

These bottles, with such differing capacities, have the body withdiameters substantially different and the position of the guide must beadapted to every type. In order to do this, it will be sufficient thatthe V-shaped guide can slide forwards or backwards with respect to thewall and with a pin 12 or with notches or by widening the V it will beeasy to find the position for each of the different types of bottle.

Reference numberal 13 denotes a support detail 11 in a plane view.

The fact that, thanks to the retractable cone 4, one can have a constantabutment for every diameter of bottle neck 9, at the base 3 of the tube2 which collects the cork 10, allows us, in a motorized corkscrew likethe one described in the above-mentioned WO-A-99-52809, to operate insuch a manner that only by introducing the bottle at the base of thecorkscrew and holding it thrust in abutment, do the motors startautomatically to perform the uncorking operation.

To do this, the device comprises a metal rod 14, which protrudesdownwardly from the base 3 of the tube 2 by a few millimeters and canslide inside the wall of the same collection tube 2.

When we thrust a bottle in abutment, the upper part of the neck 9,before reaching its end-of-travel against the base 3, will thrust therod 14 upwards and, with the upper part of the latter, will close thecontact in a switch 15 and the uncorking cycle will automatically bestarted.

Once the motors (not shown) have stopped, the bottle will be removedfrom the corkscrew, the rod 14 no longer held thrust by the neck of thebottle 9 will return to its original position thrust by a spring 16.This operation will re-open the contact of the switch 15 which willrestart the motor, which drives the wormscrew 1, in the oppositedirection and with that the cork 10 will be expelled from the collectiontube 2 and it will be possible to repeat the operation.

If we want to make a partial removal, however, that is to say, to leavea part of the cork 10 inside the neck of the bottle 9, once we haveestablished how much the wormscrew must penetrate inside the cork 10 andthe neck 9 has been inserted into the corkscrew and thrust in abutmentso as to activate the switch 15 by means of the rod 14, the uncorkingwill be performed automatically and at a certain point, after havingremoved part of the cork 10, the motors will stop. However, now we shallhave the cork partly positioned inside the collection tube 2 and partlystill inside the neck of the bottle 9.

Here we shall have a stalled situation since the rod 14, not being ableto remove the bottle from the corkscrew, cannot return to open thecircuit and restart the motor which expels the cork.

To solve this problem it will be necessary to provide a button 17complementing the switch 15 which opens the contact manually, which willrestart the motor in the opposite direction and the wormscrew 1, thusrotating, will expel from the collection tube 2 the part of the cork 10included therein and we shall find ourselves with the bottle which has apart of the cork still inside the neck 9 which we can remove manually atthe moment it has to be used.

What is claimed is:
 1. A corkscrew comprising a wormscrew and a deviceto center and align to said wormscrew a bottle having a body and a neckof any diameter whatsoever from which the cork is to be extracted, saidneck having an upper part, said device comprising: centering means foraxially centering said neck bottle with respect to said wormscrew ofsaid corkscrew; and positioning means for positioning said wormscrewwith respect to said upper part of said neck before starting a screwingoperation of said wormscrew into said cork; wherein said positioningmeans comprises a substantially cylindrical collecting tube, disposedsubstantially coaxial to said wormscrew, and said collecting tube havingan abutment disposed in a lower part of said collecting tube, saidabutment defining a stop reference position against said neck, a pointof said wormscrew being at rest always at a same predetermined distancefrom said abutment, and wherein said centering means comprises anelastic means and comprises a hollow conical element coaxial to saidcollecting tube and axially movable with respect to said collecting tubeagainst an action of said elastic means and able to cooperate with saidupper part of said neck to axially center said neck with respect to saidwormscrew, said collecting tube having an inner sidewall proximal tosaid wormscrew and an outer sidewall distal to said wormscrew, saidhollow conical element comprises a through hole in which said lower partof said collecting tube is lodged for allowing said abutment to contactsaid upper part of said neck after said neck is axially centered withrespect to said wormscrew, such that the hollow conical element ismounted to slide along said outer sidewall of the collection tube. 2.The corkscrew as in claim 1, wherein, said conical element comprises aretractable cone and said corkscrew is a wall-mounted corkscrew, havinga base, and further comprising a guide for the body of the bottlearranged on a wall under the base of said corkscrew, for cooperatingwith said retractable cone to align and center said neck of the bottleperfectly with said wormscrew.
 3. The corkscrew as in claim 2, whereinsaid guide has adjustable means to contain, align and center the body ofthe bottle and therefore the neck of different types with respect to thewormscrew.
 4. The corkscrew comprising a wormscrew, and a device tocenter and align to said wormscrew a bottle having a neck of whatsoeverdiameter from which a cork is to be extracted, said device comprising: acollection tube; and a receptacle cone that is associated to saidcollection tube, to be axially retractable with respect to saidcollection tube to allow said neck to abut always centered against anabutment of said collection tube in order to have a constant anddeterminate abutment position to correctly remove said cork; whereinsaid corkscrew is motorized and a movable rod is associated to saidcollection tube, said movable rod being able to protrude by severalmillimeters beyond said abutment of said collection tube, for contactingsaid neck when the neck is thrust in abutment, in order to actuate aswitch and automatically start an uncorking cycle.
 5. The corkscrew asin claim 4, wherein a button is provided to actuate said switch torestart the corkscrew in order to expel said cork from said collectiontube when a partial uncorking is required.
 6. The corkscrew as accordingto claim 1, wherein said elastic means comprises a spring.
 7. Thecorkscrew according to claim 1, wherein said elastic means is coaxial tosaid collecting tube.
 8. The corkscrew according to claim 1, whereinsaid corkscrew is motorized and a movable rod is associated to saidcollection tube, said movable rod being able to protrude by severalmillimeters beyond said abutment of said collection tube, for contactingsaid neck when the neck is thrust in abutment, in order to actuate aswitch and automatically start an uncorking cycle.
 9. The corkscrewaccording to claim 8, wherein a button is provided to actuate saidswitch to restart the corkscrew in order to expel said cork from saidcollection tube when a partial uncorking is required.
 10. The corkscrewaccording to claim 1, wherein the centering means comprises acylindrical portion relatively proximal to the collection tube and aconical portion relatively distal to the collection tube, thecylindrical portion coaxially overlapping the collection tube, whereinthe centering means is outside the collection tube, and the elasticmeans comprises a spring coaxially surrounding a portion of thecollection tube and contacting a proximal end of the cylindrical portionof the centering means.
 11. The corkscrew according to claim 10, furthercomprising an outer shell and the outer shell has a stopper ring locatedtherein, wherein the collection tube extends into the outer shell, andthe conical element, in an at rest position, is between the stopper ringand the spring.
 12. A corkscrew comprising a wormscrew and a device tocenter and align to said wormscrew a bottle having a body and a neck ofany diameter whatsoever from which a cork is to be extracted, said neckhaving an upper part, said device comprising: centering means foraxially centering said neck of said bottle with respect to saidwormscrew of said corkscrew; and positioning means for positioning saidwormscrew with respect to said upper part of said neck before starting ascrewing operation of said wormscrew into said cork, wherein saidpositioning means comprises a substantially cylindrical collecting tube,disposed substantially coaxial to said wormscrew, and said collectingtube having an abutment disposed in a lower part of said collectingtube, said abutment defining a stop reference position against saidneck, a point of said wormscrew being at rest always at a samepredetermined distance from said abutment, and wherein said centeringmeans comprises an elastic means and comprises a hollow centeringelement of progressively widening diameter to flare out downwardlyrelative to the collecting tube, said hollow centering element beingcoaxial to said collecting tube and axially movable with respect to saidcollecting tube against an action of said elastic means and able tocooperate with said upper part of said neck to axially center said neckwith respect to said wormscrew, said collecting tube having an innersidewall proximal to said wormscrew and an outer sidewall distal to saidwormscrew, said hollow centering element comprising a through hole inwhich said lower part of said collecting tube is lodged for allowingsaid abutment to contact said upper part of said neck after said neck isaxially centered with respect to said wormscrew, such that the hollowcentering element is mounted to slide along said outer sidewall of thecollection tube.